Chapter 74 (1/2)

The concert hall was magnificent. Evenly spaced marble columns lined its walls of warm gold.

Under the religious-themed murals on the ceiling, there were 518 seats on the first floor and 235 on the second. Musical media arrived from all over the world, and there was a professional team to report on the school’s internal assessment.

The French media was most heavily represented. Due to the behemoth of talent that were the judges in attendance, reporters from more and more countries filtered inside.

Of them, Zhou Kang Sheng was one of the most inconspicuous.

Zhou Kang Sheng was a journalist of Huaxia’s top music magazine 《Music Hall》. His journey from Huaxia was lengthy, given its distance from Europe on the east side of Asia. Securing his participation from the Paris branch was difficult, even though it was valued by the headquarters.

Getting him to record a video was even more unlikely. Zheng Kang Sheng only brought a single SLR camera with him. He was not interested in wasting his memory card on recording a college exam. It would last more than three hours.

As far as Zhou Kang Sheng was concerned, the Paris’ National Conservatory of Music was just a school. This so-called assessment was that of a college student’s level.

How skilled could a student be? They were in their twenties, at most. Could they really be another Min Chen? Christole?

Zhou Kang Sheng didn’t think so.

If he guessed correctly, the reason headquarters asked him to make a report was due to Min Chen serving as a judge.

As a worthy leader in Huaxia’s classical music scene, Min Chen confused Zhou Kang Sheng. He was born and raised in Germany and had hardly visited Huaxia. Why did he still hold Huaxia so firmly as his nationality from birth?

Though Min Chen was in attendance, he still encountered racists who despised classical musicians from Huaxia. He would only smirk and reply, “There are no good musicians from Huaxia? Do you know the name of Bai Ai’s chief conductor?”

Before Zhou Kang Sheng could consider things any further, the assessments began.

A lovely girl took to the stage with a cello, and a thought crossed his mind. Whispering to himself, he said, “Yes. . . Headquarters told me to pay special attention to a particular student. What was his name again? Li Mu?”

Zhou Kang Sheng shook his head, deciding not to think about it. He focused on the current performance.

. . .

The University had a lot of good students. All who participated in the assessment were coached by professor-level instructors. But. . . This did not stop the masters in the judging panel from baring their fangs.

When facing excellent music, the judges were gentle, giving comments and suggestions.

When the first player with music intolerable to human ears appeared, Min Chen listened politely to the final note. However, he gave 4 points without hesitation.

Where there are good performances, there are also bad ones.

This year’s assessment maintained the high standards of the college. Of course, it also made the lazy students too embarrassed to lift their heads in front of these masters.

The performances’ order was decided before the assessment began.

When a piano student finished his performance, he directly shouted from the stage, “Mr. Bertram, I’m a big fan of yours! Thank you for listening to my 《Piano Concerto in A Major》!”

Even with such a lovely fan, Min Chen could hardly be kind to the student. Offering advice and encouragement were the furthest things from his mind.

No, this man judged his own violin as “god awful.” How was he expected to listen to music so bad ]it echoed to the center of the Earth? Min Chen, who had so far listened patiently, was the one who deserved high marks.

It was truly useless.

The piano student who got the first failing mark of 59, Lewis, ran off the stage. In all his excitement, he shouted, “Hooke! Hooke! Mr. Bertram spoke to me, you hear me?! I’m so excited!!”

Hooke sighed. “. . . But he only gave you 4 points. . .”

On stage, students with various musical instruments continued their performances. When an excellent student from the clarinet department appeared, the deputy music director of the British BBC Orchestra immediately invited him to join the orchestra. This became the beginning of the invitation wave.